Agree to Disagree Online and Remain Respectful

Welcome to the February 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: 

Respectful Interactions With Other Parents

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by 

Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have focused on how we can communicate with other parents compassionately.

I have been working with a lot of advocacy and parenting groups online which has helped me learn so much about different aspects of parenting and life. In some groups, I am pretty active and in others I am more of a lurker. I love trying to make a change in the breastfeeding world and I am constantly striving to parent more naturally and these groups help a lot with this. I for one am very thankful to be part of the Natural Parents Network Team, they truly are an amazing group of women. We have come together and support each other in many ways, whether it be a virtual fundraiser for a fellow mom who's baby was in the NICU, words of encouragement, advice, or even donating personal items for a mom in need. But not all online interactions are as up lifting and moving as these.  I have also had the privilege to meet a lot of people online while working on projects that I truly believe in. Online interaction certainly have their challenges; plain and simple, online can be tough. Messages are miss interpreted, you don't know the other people in the group,  people take certain liberties behind the disguise of the Internet that they may not in real life, and it can get heated pretty quickly, and people can get pretty nasty.

Most Viewed NPN Blogger Posts of 2011

I am proud and honored to be volunteer with the Natural Parents Network (NPN), a community of natural-minded parents and parents-to-be where you will be informed, empowered, and inspired. When you visit the NPN’s website you can find articles and posts about Activism, Balance, Consistent Care, Ecological Responsibility, Family Safety, Feeding With Love, Gentle Discipline, Healthy Living, Holistic Health, Natural Learning, Nurturing Touch, Parenting Philosophies, Practical Home Help, Preparing for Parenting, Responding With Sensitivity, Safe Sleep, and so much more!

The volunteers who dedicate their time and energy to make NPN the outstanding resource it is also spend countless hours informing and inspiring others on their personal blogs. To close out 2011, the NPN volunteers have come together to provide you with some valuable reading material. Each volunteer has selected either their most viewed post of 2011 or their favorite post and shared the link here. Please take a few moments to visit each post. Our intention is to expand our reach as bloggers and informed parents and parents-to-be who are still growing as we move through our own journeys. Each volunteer has provided links to other social media sites where you can follow them as well.

We hope you enjoy reading these posts as much as we enjoyed writing them. We are always looking for new volunteers so please, contact us if you are interested. Just a few hours per month can help other mamas in a huge way!